Houston Raid
2k5 2 - Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 4:46 PM ------------------------------------------ Houston, Texas One of a handful of spaceports serving the Earth, Houston has quickly become a massive port of industry as everyone pushes into the final frontier. Trans-orbital shuttles, intrasystem transport, and even ftl-drive craft are among the tools of Houston's boom-town status. Like the other large cities of the world, it has begun to grow outward, and threatens to reach out and grab every other city in Texas in its hunger for more room. Contents: Sandstorm Blades Torque Onslaught Ultra Magnus Alpha Trion's Car Store Autobot Sensor #3492 Obvious exits: Fly leads to Skies above the Central United States. Launch leads to Earth Orbit. Out leads to Texas. With a trio of failed Decepticon plots to vanquish the Autobots forever, Shockwave has realized that if the Empire doesn't act quickly, it is in danger of losing their foothold on Earth entirely. Trypticon is a flawed being in a flawed location. The snows of a Newfoundland winter makes him cranky. The last of a steady power supply makes him crankier. The lingering damage from his fight with /not-Metroplex/ makes him crankiest of all. Thus, in an effort to revitalize Trypticon and prepare him for his move to his new home (wherever that might be), Shockwave and Onslaught have picked a NASA assembly plant as their target. The Despoiler crashes through Earth's atmosphere, glowing red at the front from the intense heat as it descends towards Texas. Although its guns are primed, Shockwave has ordered that all non-essential power be diverted to the shields to protect it from inevitable bombardment. Cruising in overhead of the factory, which is just on the outskirts of Houston, the ventral deployment bay slides open. Hovering down with a flight of Seekers and Sweeps behind him, Shockwave points, "Lower the carry-all equipment. Wings two and three, commence main breach of the outer wall. Wing one, prepare to infiltrate and locate the list of items for appropriation. Wings four and five, begin patrolling the perimeter of the site for possible Autobot or Earth Defence Command intrusions." The Seekers streak past him to carry out these commands. Blades transforms into his Bell UH-1V Iroquois mode. Brawl has arrived. Sandstorm transforms into his Off-Road Recon Dunebuggy mode. Off-Road Recon Dunebuggy transforms into his Sikorsky Recon Copter mode. Onslaught drops from the shuttle and heavily lands on the ground casting a cloud of dust and concrete around him. The combaticon commander emerges from the cloud, gun blazing as he targets the plants' defenses. As soon as his area is cleared, he falls forwards and transforms into a battletstation. His powerful sensor sweeps the area in search for any military forces, "Brawl. Get your arse ready to defense the perimeter. The Autobots are bound to be here soon considering Metroplex's proximity." From his previous mode, Onslaught transforms into his battlestation mode. Backfire arrives from the Texas countryside. Backfire has arrived. Brawl looks out of the deployment hatch he's standing next to, a drop team ready to roll behind him. Or they were, last he checked. Feh, who needs a drop team when you have BRAWL! Leaping out, Brawl descends quickly to his Con-manding officer, shouting eagerly as he falls. Landing with a heavy thud near Onsalught, Brawl's guns are immediately at the ready, pointing around and covering his surroundings. "You got it, sir! Just let them TRY to get past me! I love a good challenge...!" ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) MEANWHILE AT THE NASA ASSEMBLY PLANT THE CONS WERE HEADED RIGHT FOR... "And that's how the Autobots and NASA intend to explore space further than it's ever been explored before." Magnus finishes. "Questions?" A sea of elementary school hands shoot into the air. Magnus, standing in front of a banner that reads 'NASA WELCOMES ALL CHILDREN FROM ALL THE SCHOOLS IN THE STATE' points at one. "Yes, you with the the hat expressing love for a specific human sports team." The kid clears his throat. "Is that Blades over there? I hear he stabs people. Stabbing is totes badical." Magnus sighs. "That is Blades, but stabbing is not...what I assume was a positive slang word. Not unless it absolutely has to be done. You should be a much bigger fan of Torque, the best medic in Autobot City!" From the crowd, a voice cracking preteen heckle: "Babybot got back!" Magnus rubs his temples and grimaces at Sandstorm. This was going to be a long field trip. Skids has arrived. Skids walks over to Houston, Texas. Bell UH-1V Iroquois has just been sitting there quietly in helicopter mode, trying to be unobtrusive. For some reason, the Autobots keep allowing Blades out in public, even though they should really, really know better. Howver, after all this EDUCATION and SCIENCE and ENCOURAGING YOUNG MINDS, Blades has just had enough and cannot take it anymore. So he snaps. The helicopter transforms, tromps over to the podum, and throws his hands up in Ultra Magnus's face, shouting, "Yo Torque, I'm really happy for you, Immma let you finish, but First Aid is the greatest medic of all time. OF ALL TIME!" Bell UH-1V Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. "And then we were all PEW PEW PEW and WRECK AND RULE and those hideous space pirates didn't stand a chance against the best team on Cybertr--huh?" Sandstorm stopped making pretend pistols with his fingers and looked up from the bunch of older kids he was talking to. "Where you saying something Magnus? Sorry, we were paying attention to the *interesting* stories here." Gestures a little at the older high school crowd standing around where he's sitting. Most of them were pretty bored with the 'educational' speechs too, and start snickering as the triplerchanger sasses at Magnus a bit. "I mean, you're inspiring and all on the battlefield, but these lectures? Borrrring." Torque loves kids, so it's only natural that she's here, helping with the presentation and happily answering any questions directed towards her. Currently she stands somewhat off to the side of Magnus, hands held professionaly behind her back. She can't help snickering a bit at the one kid's enthusiasm over Blades, but pauses when Ultra Magnus actually.. compliments her? Antennas flick a little, Torque rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh uh.. thank you, sir, but I'm not as good as--" And then Blades butts in, cutting her short and finishing her sentence for her in the worst possible way, making her snort softly and rest a fist at her hip. "I was gonna say that, you know." And then someone in the crowd makes a lewd remark, only causing her optics to roll. One of those days, it seems. Skids has only been back on Earth for a few days, having returned with First Aid and Metroplex's transformation cog. He's all patched up now, but maybe moving a little gingerly, as if his systems are only back up to 98%, not 100%. Right now? He's heard all the stories himself, and is sneaking a read at an oversized Kindle. His face turns to horror as he gasps aloud, in a shocked whisper, "Renesmee! No! Can't you see he's wrong for--" He looks up and around, then mumbles. "Sorry, you get really into this. It makes the first three so worth it." ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) Amongst the others, four Seekers fly down from the Despoiler with standard issue carry-alls. The carry-alls are small flying transports with no engines of their own that can be pushed. They're practically shopping carts with anti-grav systems. As they prepare to make with the carting, the Decepticons ahead of them fire concentrated bunker buster bombs at the outer wall of the factory. Ka-boom! The wall cracks like an eggshell, revealing the factory's cargo area, not far from where the Autobots and children are clustered. Alarms and klaxons start going off across the factory. One might think it's just a standard fire drill were it not for the entire factory shaking from the impact. Looks like children with hats expressing love for specific human sports teams are going to have to learn about space another day. Shockwave lands next to Onslaught's battlestation mode, "At the first sign of Autobot interlopers, Onslaught, raise the alarm. Aerospace was only able to provide me with fodder and incompetents." It would seem Decepticon Intel was unaware of this public relations maneuver by the Autobots. Unless it happens within Ravage or Laserbeak's line of sight, sometimes the Cons just don't know about it. Laserbeak has arrived. "As you wish Shockwave. They cannot be far though so we better gather what we need fast." Onslaught makes his points by turning his weapons towards all the non-essential building to bring them down. This should make it easier for him to detect any incoming autobots. "Brawl, your challenge will come soon enough." Brawl rushed out ahead of the battlestation that was Onslaught, guns blasting any security measures of any kind that stood in the way of their conquest. Brawl also made sure to simply level whatever was in his line of sight that obscured the surrounding vision; since incoming Autobots would be a threat, Brawl made sure they could see as far as possible, and even better, they had no cover coming in. Once in a while, Brawl showed some real thought in his combat style... "Booyah! I'm looking forward to some action!!!" Another section of wall is torn asunder from superior firepower, a trio of muted Seekers dash forward.. lingering in the background, a crooked smile is only outshone by the ionic discharge trail snaking up from the tip of a barrel of a fusion cannon. Striding forward, a blast rockets out from an arm-mounted laser rifle to silence an alarm that was endlessly filling the area with it's shrill screech. "Hurry you fools, Lucky Seeker Wing Seven shall be winning all the raids!!" the Seeker cackles, pointing the gumbies with hover-carts to some supplies. Looking to the side, Backfire's optics squint. Muttering something into his communicator, the idiot savant goes back to directing his small team during the raiding. Laserbeak returns from advanced scouting, which is what his role is, aside from oilboarding Autobots. That sweet delicious moment when they're helpless, and he's just there with his questions, and they know, they KNOW that he.... The bird blinks, his thoughts carried away again to times long gone...good times. He replays part of his electrocution interrogation of Franklin Cross. The bird nearly chuckles, if he were want to. Onto more pressing matters, such as publicity stunts and the like. Beaker swoops in to the Con raid party, perching on Shockwave's shoulder. He wasn't...well, he wasn't Soundwave, but...ehhh..... Again Laserbeak pauses, then delivers his advanced scouting. Autobots! In the vicinity. Footage shows of a crowd of kids, and of Ultra Magnus talking to them. A Nav marker pops up on radar, exposing their location. The Cybervulture scans the immediate area for Autobot threat, ensuring no unauthorized assassination attempts, it may look like he's just being passive though...to the untrained eye. ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) Ultra Magnus suddenly stands between all of the children in the state and the Decepticons. Lightning speed? Animation glitch? Doesn't matter. "Shockwave, I should have known you'd stand in the way of youngling education. Autobots, it's time to send these Decepticons packing! Roll out!" Laser rifle subspacing in, Magnus sprints forward, laying down a massive amount of supressive fire! Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Shockwave with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus (Ultra Magnus) used "Full-Auto": A Level 2 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Battlestation with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Leopard 1A1 Tank with his Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Laserbeak with his Full-Auto Area attack! The F-16C Agile Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal.. BACKFIRE!! Leopard 1A1 Tank transforms into his Brawl mode. Blades will call First Aid a wuss and a nerd to his face, but behind his back, Blades tends to be >< close to stabbing someone over insults to his teammates. Luckily for everyone involved, Blades's unprofessional behaviour is called to a halt by a... Decepticon attack. Okay, maybe that's not so lucky. In any case, he immediately moves to protect the grubby, ungrateful human children, because that is just what he does. Are there Combaticons out there? There sure are! Blades takes to the air, somewhat grudgingly, to send a missile after Onslaught to continue the eternal battle between Protectobot and Combaticon. Blades transforms into his Bell UH-1V Iroquois mode. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois strikes Battlestation with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! -3 Skids is, unsurprisingly, caught by surprise as the alarms go off. Reluctantly, he rolls down a panel of his torso and shoves his reader into the compartment. Looking around at the situation, he decides that someone should probably get the defenseless squishy younglings out of here. "All right, kids, kids, there's no need to panic, there's a good chance you'll all survive. Just follow me and there's got to be a basement or something around here. Uh, any of you been here before?" Combat: Skids sets his defense level to Protected. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Skids has 'skipped' his action for this round. Shockwave says, "Laserbeak. Acquire tactical data. Ultra Magnus." Laserbeak says, "@chat o-dec=ansi(hg,!)" Sikorsky Recon Copter gives Magnus a dismissive wave and turns his attention back to his audience. "Now where was I... oh, yes. The space pirates didn't stand a chance, and once all the hostages were off the ship," where there hostages before? Was anyone paying attention past the action?, "we scuttled that space fairing junkheap with a tremendous--" **KABOOOM** Sandstorm jerks upright as the building rattles. "I know my story was awesome, but that sound effect was -not- me." But it only takes moments before his keen sense tune in on the direction it came from, even as he's ushering the studens back towards the rest of the crowd. "Sorry kids, this is the part where you evac with everyone else and watch the Autobots be awesome from a distance." With that he sprints off, leaping past the other Autobots and transforming. Though while Blades takes off to start shooting things, he pulls up at an angle, letting his rotors do his namesake thing and blast swirling plumes of sand and dust whirling about the Decepticons. "Eat slag and die, scrapheads!" Combat: Sikorsky Recon Copter sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Sikorsky Recon Copter strikes Battlestation with his Sandstorm Area attack! -1 Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Battlestation 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Sikorsky Recon Copter strikes Brawl with his Sandstorm Area attack! -1 Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Brawl's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Sikorsky Recon Copter strikes Laserbeak with his Sandstorm Area attack! -1 Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Laserbeak's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Sikorsky Recon Copter strikes Backfire with his Sandstorm Area attack! -1 Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Backfire's Accuracy. (Blinded) Torque's optics flash bright and antenna tips rapidly blink in alarm when the ground shudders heavily and sirens fill the air, head swinging around to spot the Decepticon menace not too far from the presentation. "Ergh, what the hell are they doing here??" There were children here! But despite the urge to immediatly rush into battle, she takes the time to help Skids round up the humans, ushering them along to one of the bunkers pointed out by staff. "Alright, everyone, just stay calm and follow Skids, there's no need to worry. You'll be safe underground, okay?" Once in the safety of a bunker Torque finally terms her attentions to the battlefield, optics narrowing before she swiftly shifts into her truck mode, engines roaring and tires spinning the second they hit the asphalt. Time to ram one of those troublesome Cons! Torque folds in on herself while shifting to her altmode. Combat: Tow Truck sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Tow Truck strikes Brawl with her Ram attack! ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) Bullets bounce off the battlestation's armor. "There were /INSIDE/??? Another botched job by intelligence." He opens a communications channel towards the seeker patrolling the perimeter <> He barely has time to complete his transmission before being struck by armor piercing rockets. The battlestation's heavy plating seems to explode and pieces of it fly around. Barely a second later, his sensors are blinded by a sandstorm. "They're getting on my nerve... Brawl. Use that storm as cover and direct your fire at the protectobot. We must blast the bots out of the sky. He's not a jet so he should be easy to strike down." Combat: Onslaught analyzes Blades for weaknesses Brawl can exploit. Laserbeak had managed to catch Ultra Magnus' clipping error moments after he appeared. The sudden and quite possibly stealthy figure of Ultra Magnus affected Beaker more than he let on, as he immediately compiled his thoughts on being caught off-guard and blared them on +D sending out some random gibberish. Moments afterword sand and grit stick to his optics. The skulker hunches down to shield himself from the grit and bits using a wing for cover. It doesn't help much. The yellow eyes gleam, all to happy to be part of the team to reunite Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus... Combat: Laserbeak analyzes Ultra Magnus for weaknesses Shockwave can exploit. "AGAH!" Backfire croons, pawing wildly at his face. Unfortunately for him, he was at the forefront of the sand barrage. "Thank you lord Backfire, we shall not waste your timely intervention!" one of the Seeker gumbies drones out, before getting back to general ransacking. "Oh, uhh.. yes. I, BACKFIRE.. sacrificed myself for the MISSION!!" the simpleton lies. It was all just a matter of bad luck, which put him in front of Sandstorm's sand-storm. But that doesn't stop Backfire from putting a spin on it. When he's finally stopped clawing at his optics, Backfire whirls towards the Wrecker and aims a couple of shots. "How -dare- you strike a superior Decepticon officer with such a.. LAME ATTACK!" he growls, squeezing off a couple of rounds. "You insult my intelligence, Autobottom!!" Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Backfire misses Sikorsky Recon Copter with his Pew Pew x2! (Laser) attack! Shockwave raises his arm slightly to present a better landing perch for Laserbeak. Shockwave listens to the report and then relays it Brawl and Onslaught. "There is a strong Autobot presence already inside. Expect Ultra Magnus to arrive in..." Shockwave trails off, slowly turning towards the factory. Ultra Magnus now fills his view. "The fleshling protoforms mean nothing to me, Magnus. Only the materials present within this facility. Spare your soldiers and those you protect a painful death and fall back while you have the chance." But of course Ultra Magnus sprints forward, firing his laser rifle. Shockwave activates his rocket boots, flying upwards to escape the deadly barrage. This might make it difficult for Laserbeak to hold on, but the option is still there. Below, smart rockets streak down towards the Combaticon battlestation, followed by swirling sand and dust. Onslaught and Brawl are already taking a beating, but Shockwave knows their retaliation will be fierce. "Laserbeak. Acquire tactical data. Ultra Magnus." Shockwave intones. He fires a laser barrage down at the primary target, followed by a high powered blast towards Sandstorm. Clearing the air is a necessity. Meanwhile, the Seekers continue their work, barging into the cargo area. One of them holds a list in his hands and begins searching for the specific things Shockwave wants. Combat: Shockwave sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Shockwave strikes Ultra Magnus with his Laser Barrage (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Removing analysis data for Ultra Magnus. Combat: Shockwave misses Sikorsky Recon Copter with his Laser Barrage (Full-Auto) Area attack! Combat: Drained 7 energon. ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) Ultra Magnus takes the blast because he's Ultra Magnus. "You need Laserbeak's assistance, Shockwave? Ironic that this is an educational trip..." A Seeker leaps at him, and he back hands the grunt into a different state. "And you haven't done your homework!" Shoulder missiles are GO! Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Shockwave with his Shoulder Missile attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus (Ultra Magnus) used "Shoulder Missile": A Level 8 RANGED attack. Combat: You took 10 damage. Skids needed to pick up one of the students--in the dust Sandstorm kicked up, you can't tell whether a girl or a boy--who had a panic attack and just cowered, tucking them under his arm as he tried to calm everyone down. With a bit of brief assistance from Torque, especially in pointing out the bunker, he has a lot less difficulty getting the human larvae to get to (relative?) safety underground and lock the doors behind them. Then, he turns back. Visibility for him is as poor as for anyone else on his side, but he can make out at least two of the Combaticons, coming in fast. "Torque, where'd you go? Better keep Onslaught busy, or we'll be dealing with Bruticus." If he thinks Onslaught's their biggest problem, he must not have seen Shockwave. He raises the arm with the electron blaster set into it, and fires his opening salvo of the engagement. Combat: Skids sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Skids strikes Battlestation with his Electron Blaster attack! Combat: Battlestation has been temporarily incapacitated. Bell UH-1V Iroquois 's only weakness is Decepticon women. And maybe being too fond of cutting things? And also strong winds. So Onslaught just kind of... stares at Blades hard? Blades has no idea what Onslaught is doing, really. Onslaught just stopped shelling for no reason that Blades can determine. Given the high potential for human casualties, Blades cannot exactly be unhappy about Onslaught stopping shelling, but Onslaught could be up to STUFF AND THINGS. After Skids's assist, Blades approaches more carefully and lets another armor-buster off the chain. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois strikes Battlestation with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! The grit filling the air affords the Autobots some brief cover, which Torque and Blades make quick use of. Ultra Magnus... well if he wasn't such a brick maybe it would work better for him, but he can take it. Minor detail. A few laser shots whizz by from several directions, but none come close to put a dent in Sandstorm or his attitude. Whirls of sand fade off into the air as they spin off his rotors as the copter pulls up over the fading clouds, laughing a bit as Backfire yells at him. Sandstorm propels himself forward, once enough momentum is gotten transforming to turn it into an out of the air tackle at the Seeker. "Long time no see Assfire. But now its time to WRECK'N'RULE!" Because it needs to be screamed at least once for all the human kids watching from hopefully safety. Sikorsky Recon Copter transforms into his Sandstorm mode. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Backfire with his WRECK'N'RULE! (Kick) attack! Did Torque really hit Brawl? Was Brawl even here at all? The world may never know. Maybe she just thought he was there. Either way she finds herself heading into Sandstorm's.. well, sandstorm, tires squealing as she wheels around Onslaught, whipping her back end and sending the large hook of her towline to hopefully snag him. If successful she let's out the line, driving large circles around the con to try and wrap him up and hold him still. Combat: Tow Truck strikes Battlestation with her Towline Lasso attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Battlestation 's Agility. (Crippled) ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) The vulture takes flight in a panic. Those missiles launched were way too close to his form. The perils of being prime shoulderbird rear their ugly head. He circles around, adjusting his flight to gaze on Magnus again. Hrmmm, those shoulder missile launchers had a curious loading mechanism. Certainly Autobot OSHA would love to know how faulty that could become...provided the proper damage occurs to the area. Laserbeak sets to inform his current commanding officer of the code violation. Battlestation is struck by a powerful taser blast which force his systems to reboot, which they do as fast as they can but not in time to do anything by the second armor piercing rocket flying towards him. Once again, pieces of armor plating fly around. Onslaught curses Brawl for getting distracted and screwing his battle plan which force him to handle the autobots by himself. The laser turret of the battlestation slowly turns and soon, two beam of energy fly towards Blades. Torque attempts to bond him...with little success due to his mass. Combat: Laserbeak analyzes Ultra Magnus for weaknesses Shockwave can exploit. Combat: Battlestation sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Battlestation strikes Bell UH-1V Iroquois with his Laser Batteries attack! "*Any* advantage over you is an advantage worth pursuing, Ultra Magnus," Shockwave retorts. "You often claim I suffer from overconfidence, but here you find you were in error." As Shockwave sees what Magnus is doing, he shakes his arm in order to suggest to Laserbeak that he get the hell out of dodge--advice which Laserbeak takes. The missile collides with Shockwave just below his hexagonal chest. There's a muffled explosion as smoke and fire pours out, but the end result is that Shockwave's armour has withstood the blast... albeit with a massive scorch mark and a major dent. Unmindful of the Seeker that gets backhanded into next week, Shockwave quickly takes stock of the situation. Onslaught is continuing to be a huge target for the Autobots, and this is made much worse when Skids fires his electron blaster. Already in the air, Shockwave leans forward, barrel sliding in from subspace as he transforms into gun mode. NOW is Onslaught still their biggest problems? Shockwave fires three times in quick succession, targeting Magnus, Blades, and Skids. Sandstorm is spared only because Shockwave calculates that Backfire's safety is marginally important enough to avoid annihilating him. Torque is too hidden in the sandstorm. In the factory's cargo hold, the lead Seeker scratches his head at the list. Even though it has pictures and everything, it's pretty complex. "Alright, grab that thing, that thing, annnnnd that thing! Go go go!" The first wave of Seekers begins carting up supplies to the Despoiler, still hovering overhead. The ex-pirate ship continues to keep its shields at maximum, refraining from joining in the fight with its weapons. Shockwave's orders. Shockwave's legs combine as his back unfolds. A wide, silver barrel appears out of subspace and connects to his arms, completing his transformation into ray gun mode. Combat: Laser Gun strikes Ultra Magnus with his Gamma Ray Blasts Area attack! Combat: Removing analysis data for Ultra Magnus. Combat: Laser Gun strikes Bell UH-1V Iroquois with his Gamma Ray Blasts Area attack! Combat: Laser Gun strikes Skids with his Gamma Ray Blasts Area attack! Combat: Drained 28 energon. "Why do I have to keep telling you guys this, my name is not ASSfire. It's BACKFIRE. B, as in glorious BATTL.. ACK!" the Seeker groans, tackled to the ground by Sandstorm. Rolling on his side and away, Backfire rushes up to his feet and primes a close-combat shot of his Hypno-Laser. "Dirty fighting, eh? I'll have you know I wrote the APPENDIX TO FIGHTING DIRTY!" Backfire decrees, letting loose with the green rays from his weapon. "Well, some of the forward too. I'm quite the established author, didn't you know??" Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Sandstorm with his Hypno-Shell Rifle attack! ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) Skids raises his hands to his helmet as he tries to shake off the gamma-ray overload. Those things aren't good for your circuits, and he's still seeing static in his optic sensors, not that he's going to complain about it now. "That was Shockwave! Where?" He raises his head, covers it from the sun with his hand, and scopes around as his vision returns, before opening fire with his longest-ranged weapon when he does spot him. That dramatic pose is intimidating, he'll give you that, but it's not the best way to keep a low profile. Combat: Skids strikes Laser Gun with his Missile Launcher attack! Combat: Skids (Skids) used "Missile Launcher": A Level 7 RANGED attack. Combat: You took 18 damage. Ultra Magnus is blasted firmly into a wall of the facility by Shockwave's attack. "Damn it..." He pulls himself to his feet, taking a moment for various systems to click back into place (including vision: everything was a bright white spot for a moment...), and then reassess the battlefield. "Skids, what's the status on evacuating those human children?" He begins moving forward, and brings his forearm up across his chest, a shield style force field shimmering to life. "Keep at them, Autobots! We can't let this tech fall into Decepticon hands!" He makes a dash for Shockwave, shield up... Combat: Ultra Magnus takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Skids takes an instant to call back, "All clear, Magnus." Skids , "+help boosters?" Sandstorm smacks the Seeker into the pavement and rolls off with the impact, tumbling back onto his feet. "You also talk like a jibbering moron." He spins to face Backfire, then woffles a moment as the weird-o-ray zaps him. "Ahahaha, that didn't even hurt.." Except why's everything so squiggly and distorted and colors in rediculously wrong contrasts now? ".. Whoa, this must be what Groove and Beachcomber see the world like. Contact high.. whoa..." Despite the loopiness he still points a blaster and fires. At.. something. Combat: Sandstorm's Trippin' on Seeker Mojo attack on Backfire goes wild! Combat: Sandstorm strikes himself with his Trippin' on Seeker Mojo (Pistol) attack! "Dirty fighting, Backfire? You fight like Mr. Clean!" Blades heckles. Onslaught's energy beam lances through him, and then Shockwave irradiates the Protectobot, making a dud out of one of his missile shells and frying some of the finer servos that control the pitch of his rotor blades, making him clumsier in the air. Despite the immense pain, Blades mocks, "Oooh, tingly fresh!" Blades decides that Onslaught has probably had enough armour peeled off by now that he can finally approach to close distance to get up close and personal, just the way he likes it. Bell UH-1V Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. Sure, it may not be very productive to tie up something that doesn't really move, but Torque has a two-phase plan! When Onslaught is all tangled up Torque shifts back to her base mode while still in motion, dropping to a three-point stance and skidding across the ground before coming to a halt. "You ready for a tip, big guy?" The femme grins, grabbing hold of the line still spooling from her back, wrapping once around a hand and planting feet firmly. And with all the strength of a true tow truck she pulls, hydrolics groaning and line taut, seeing fit to flip him up and over onto either his side or back. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Fearless. Torque shifts several plates before standing upright in robot mode. .. And the shot almost hits a gumbie Seeker!.. except the gumbie just happens to be lifting a piece of solar panel reflector, that the shot bounces off of and hits Sandstorm right back. "Aaaugh how the slag can Groove even fight like this?!" Combat: Blades strikes Battlestation with his Rotor Blade attack! Combat: Torque strikes Battlestation with her Giant Enemy Onslaught! (Grab) attack! Blades shouts back at Sandstorm, "Practise! Dedication! ...blasted good luck." ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) Battlestation really has no clue what Torque is trying to do. She's certainly not moving something as heavy as his battlestation mode. Then Blades gets the jump on him, slashing into his exposed inner system. Time for a new strategy. The battlestations unfold, reducing his size as he transforms into his robot mode, escaping Torque's bonds. "I'll send you back to Hot Spot in a trashcan." he mocks as he swings his massive fist towards the protectobot. From his previous mode, Onslaught unfolds into his robot mode. Combat: Onslaught strikes Blades with his Hard Education attack! This was getting Laserbeak nowhere. There were Autobots and some of them might shoot at him. His Audio receptors pick up some interesting words. Tsk, he still needed that Interception upgrade. Again he files that all away in his 'to be done' list, right before 'taunt Scorn' and after 'Do something mean to Onslaught'. Beaker blasts at the ground with his...laserbeak. Sparks are sent flying as he actually calls attention to himself! Why would he do such a thing? Because the ground he's ripping up is a path going straight for those innocent schoolkids! The threat is right there. If no one responded to Laserbeak's action, innocent lives could get injured. Take that heroes! Combat: Laserbeak sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Laserbeak takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Laser Gun fires and fires, nailing all three of his targets. Somewhere, Chromia is frowning most intently. Ultra Magnus is forced to take cover behind a forcefield to regroup. Excellent, Shockwave thinks, this will give the Decepticons time to regroup and finish off the remaining Autobots. Perhaps Magnus was right about the overconfidence, however, as Skids steps up to the plate with a dramatic pose /and/ a missile blast. The projectile slams into the laser gun's underside, hitting right where Magnus's did a few moments ago. As Shockwave transforms back into robot mode, it's clear that Skids's launcher had far better success than Magnus's. The walking computer's armour has finally been breached, and glowing pink energy is sparking from the wound just below his hexagon chest. Shockwave lowers his hand to it in pain. Seeing Magnus charging towards him, Shockwave takes up a more defensible position by landing near Onslaught. "We need to hold them off for only several more minutes, Onslaught!" Shockwave declares, planning to thwart those that are hassling the battlestation. Seeing the line that Torque is using against him, Shockwave grabs it, yanking on it /hard/. "Who has who, Autobot?" Shockwave states as he tries pulling the line and spinning, threatening to carry Torque with it as the line swings towards Skids. The Seekers working the cargo area are still trying to find the more detailed, specific parts that they've been ordered to get, but more than a few carry-alls have made it back to the Despoiler by now. Shockwave's handle separates into legs as his barrel splits into arms. Straightening out, he completes his transformation into robot mode. Combat: Shockwave strikes Torque with his Your Tow Line Is Now My Tow Line (Ruckus) Area attack! -1 Combat: Shockwave strikes Skids with his Your Tow Line Is Now My Tow Line (Ruckus) Area attack! -1 Combat: Drained 3 energon. "Who is this Mr. Clean I'm always being equated to?? Is this some cruel Autobot inside joke??" Backfire cries out, looking a little more pathetic than usual after Blades insult. Turning his attention back to Sandstorm, he chortles softly when Sandstorm's attack ends up backfiring on himself. "Who's the MAROON now?? Ahahahahaha, you fool." he finishes his small retort, stalking forward. "Can't you see you're impossibly outmatched here? Not only do I possess superior firepower and combat prowess, but I have quite possibly the most ingenious mind of the entire Decepticon EMPIRE!!" he smiles. Turning back to steal a look at Shockwave and that large cannon of his, he adds "Present company excluded, of course." "Did you really think we came here for munitions? No, we've come to steal these children and INDOCTRINATE them with Decepticon morals! Ahahahahahahahaha!!" he laughs, powering up a charge from the overly large crappy fusion cannon afixed to his right arm. "And there's nothing you can do about it, Wrecker!" Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Backfire strikes Sandstorm with his Poor Mech's Fusion Cannon attack! -5 ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) Skids is still taking stock of who else he may have missed in the scrum--There are some seekers aside from Bacfire a little further away, doing who knows what?--but he's radioing "Magnus, I think that's either Laserbeak or Buzzsaw, going for the bunker with the--" That gets cut short when Shockwave picks up Torque by her tether and slams her into him. "Never figured you for a swinger?" Kind of weak, but, hey, not like he had a couple minutes to think of anything. He pulls himself up to his hands and feet, then raises the arm with his liquid-nitrogen blaster. As poses go, a lot less intimidating than his last. "Let's see how you deal with some shrinkage." If he can get some of that into the hole he blew in Shockwave's armor-- Combat: Skids sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Skids strikes Shockwave with his Liquid Nitrogen Rifle attack! Combat: Skids (Skids) used "Liquid Nitrogen Rifle": A Level 4 RANGED attack. Combat: You took 7 damage. Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Shockwave's Agility. (Crippled) Boom! Sandstorm gets shot in the chest with a cannon!... And just sort of stands there, more dazed from the funky beams than the blast, which only barely got past the outer layer of his armor. "Huh. 'Superior' firepower." Almost casually raises a hand to brush some of the resulting burn grit off his chest plate. Then grins lopsidedly. "Don't feel bad, every mech has performance issues from time to time." With a practiced quickness he swaps the standard Autobot sidearm for his proper weapon. "Now lemme show you how a real warrior does it.. In your face!" He grips the blaster with both hands and unloads a stream of abrasive hell on the Seeker. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Backfire with his Sandblaster Gun attack! Blades is taken to SCHOOL and slammed down hard enough to break his ankles, which reduces the mouthy Protectobot to hobbling. However, there are grimy... innocent... children's lives on the line. So reluctantly, Blades looks away from Onslaught, draws his pistol, and lets light do the travelling for him. Combat: Blades misses Laserbeak with his Photon Pistol attack! Torque at least has him up somewhat before Onslaught smartly shifts, leaving her line to slack considerably and send her nearly falling back, though she thankfully catches herself and growls, signaling her line to start spooling back up. But she catches a snag, optics widening when she sees Shockwave grabbing hold and yanking. "Agh!" Torque is strong, but he catches her off guard and sends her forward to the ground. "Ergh, no no!" She claws desperately at the ground, but is torn away when Shockwave spins her about, the femme flailing as she flies through the air, probably soaring over Backfire and Sandstorm, and slams directly into Skids! That's gotta hurt. Which it does, Torque nearly seeing stars while laying a few feet from the mech after colliding and rolling across the ground. "Alright.. That's it.." She winces a tad, grunting and slowly pushing herself back onto her feet. "/No one/ touches my line but /me/!" She clenches her jaw and balls up those dangerous fists before sprinting full tilt across the field towards the cyclops Commander himself! Skids' shot sails past before she can reach him, but she doesn't care, just means he'll hold still as she makes a leap for the air like some bigscreen badass, pulling back a fist that nearly shakes with building power and letting it fly right for Shockwave's featureless face! Combat: Torque sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Torque strikes Shockwave with her Powerfist attack! Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 5 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 13 damage. Combat: Torque's attack has damaged your Firepower! ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) Now that Blades has been taught respect, Onslaught is free to turn his attention to someone else. With most of the Autobots turning on Shockwave, the combaticon commander decides to take some pressure off the purple cyclop. Onslaught charges towards Skids and as soon as he arrives near him, he attempts to kick him just like if he was a football... a big fat football. Combat: Onslaught strikes Skids with his Kick attack! Frowning at the discharge, Backfire hurriedly goes over the connections and makes sure it's getting the adequate energon supply. "Twas but a taste of the FULL measure of my firepower." he blurts out, still panicking over his weapon. While doing so, it gives Sandstorm full disclosure to wallop him in the face with the sandblaster gun. Propelled backwards end over end, the Seeker's momentum is finally halted.. by crashing through a wall. Crawling up from the wreckage, Backfire's face is nothing more than one good optic connected by some roughshod wiring and a voicebox. The other non-working optic is currently dangling off to the side. A monotone voice croaks out from what was the Seeker's face, "We are currently experiencing technical difficulties, we apologize for any interruption in service." Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Backfire takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Welding beams strafe over the bunker's side. It wasn't really his intention to just go a-murdering. Though, he mused, if he had an Insecticon travelling on him, now'd be a great time to get on that. Well prepared for any repercussions, especially a 'Stop, Villain!' cry of outrage, he detects Blades' pistol fire, then nimbly tilts out of the way.... Wait. Wait.. Blades.... Blades was looking at him. Blades, the psychopath. BLADES was wanting to kill him now. There was a grevious error committed, and one might notice a sudden lubricant leak from Laserbeak in response to the realization. He swoops up, away from the bunker just a bit, to a high ledge, then ducks down low. His camera optics gleam as he looks over Blades, studying him. Maybe if Blades didn't see him, he could take him out...anything else would be...unpleasant. Combat: Laserbeak analyzes Blades for weaknesses. Shockwave doesn't look particularly hurt by Backfire's declaration. In fact he doesn't even turn his head to glance in Backfire's direction. He does, however, see what Laserbeak is doing and approves. Whatever it takes to throw the Autobots off their game. Taking a defensive step back, Shockwave receives a radio transmission from the Seekers in the factory's cargo hold. They've found nearly all the things he's demanded of them. Shockwave drops the tow line. He starts to moves his hand back towards his injured gut, but isn't nearly quick enough for what Skids does next. The liquid nitrogen scores a perfect hit, getting in through the breach in his armour and freezing the circuitry within. "Nnnghg..." Shockwave wheezes, involuntarily dropping to one knee, practically doubling over from the damage. For a good long while, Shockwave barely moves as he tries to reroute power away to the area in order to warm it back up. This grants Torque time to close the gap between them. Shockwave glances back up just in time to see her fly through the air, fist outstretched like it's the hand of Unicron. Fist meets 'face', and Shockwave is sent reeling backwards, skidding past Onslaught along the asphalt of the factory's parking lot until he comes to rest against a lamppost, momentarily stunned. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Shockwave has 'skipped' his action for this round. ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) Combat: Shockwave sets his defense level to Neutral. Skids finally stops rolling when he slams into the concrete wall of one of the warehouse buildings, shaking the tin wall hard enough to leave a crack in the glass. He feels down and his hand doesn't find armor where it expects to. He winces as he traces out the big new dent in his fender-shaped chest. Trying to think of some piece of good news, he comes up with, "At least the other Combaticons aren't around." He isn't staggering as he stands back up and scopes out the situation. Shockwave or Onslaught, Onslaught or Shockwave. Either one has him out-armored and out-gunned. "Magnus, where'd you go?" But he'd better do something, and he settles for a potshot of liquid nitrogen at the less-damaged of the two while he scuttles off to look for some cover. Combat: Skids sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Skids misses Onslaught with his Liquid Nitrogen Rifle attack! Skids can be heard murmuring to himself, "The astrocycle I miss Onslaught ...." Shockwave lands like right next to Ultra Magnus, who scowls down at him. "Take the fight to us all you want, Decepticon. But endangering children?" Also, he has a huge chunk of wreckage in his hands, holding it over his head. "I thought you were made of sterner stuff, Shockwave." And that is when Magnus starts bashing Shockwave in the head with the giant piece of heavy wreckage. "Go back..." Smash. "And tell Galvatron..." Smash. "This planet is no longer your playground!" Big smash. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Shockwave with his Ultra Crush attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus (Ultra Magnus) used "Ultra Crush": A Level 8 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 21 damage. Combat: Ultra Magnus's attack has damaged your Accuracy! Torque can't help a little smirk when her punch lands and sends Shockwave skidding back into a lamppost, flexing her fingers and shaking off the bit of heat on her knuckles. "That'll teach yah." She sniffs, taking a moment while he's stunned to survey the rest of the battle, arching a brow at Backfire in particular after Sandstorm blasts off his face. Is.. is that the guy that gave her the cat? Wow, he's not looking so good. But this isn't the time to oggle the enemy, her mind shifting back to the present and turning to watch Skids miss completely. "Don't worry, Skids, I got him for yah!" Brows knit as she grins, bumping her fists together and leaving Shockwave to go after Onslaught, trying to duck in close and aim a shot at his midsection. Combat: Torque strikes Onslaught with her Gut Punch! attack! -2 Moral of the story: Don't try to murder schoolchildren around psychopaths who work in emergency services. They don't take kindly to it. The Protectobot wheezes and pushes himself up, muttering, "Gonna regret ignoring me, On-snot." Then Blades transforms and shakily take to the air. He doesn't need to see Laserbeak. His missiles are guided. As long as the missile knows what a tinfoil turkey looks like, it can and will find Laserbeak. Blades transforms into his Bell UH-1V Iroquois mode. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois strikes Laserbeak with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! The Decepticon goon has lost face, so to speak, and is lying in a heap busted partway through a wall. Sucks to be him, yeah? This would be the point where most Autobots would forget about the wounded idiot and go off to do something else heroic like gang up on Shockwave or rescue humans that love to get in the middle of everything, or something to that effect. There's a Protectobot present, that's their job. But Sandstorm, being a Wrecker, isn't your typical Autobot. As Backfire bumbles about he walks over, puts one foot on an edge of the hole and leans on his knee. "Nope. I don't think the humans are going to be the ones getting re-educated tonight. But if you'll allow me to make a point..." His other hand flashes with motion, a blade popping out of concealment in his forearm into his hand, which he promptly attempts to plunge into the Seeker. Crippled enemy? Still an enemy, still a viable target. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Backfire with his What the hell is it with heli-bots and stabbing things? attack! ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) Onslaught doesn't even attempts to dodge as Skids shoots liquid nitrogen at him, that never works anyway... but then again, the Autobot's targeting computer is obviously damaged and the nitrogen falls harmlessly on the ground. Torque, however, is much more effective and her blow sends Onslaught reeling back. "Impressive..." he simply comment before adding, "But I don't have time for this." The combaticon commander quickly transforms into his missile trailer mode. His own targeting computer displays the area where he could cause the most damage. A moment later, a photon missile flies in the general direction of Magnus and Torque. From his previous mode, Onslaught transforms into his missiles trailer mode. Okay....the smart rockets were unexpected, and painful. This entire debacle was promptly getting out of hand, and the last thing Laserbeak could ask for is being where he is now. He circles around quickly, shooting wildly at Blades but even with his independently targetable laser cannons ™ he wasn't focused on it at all. No, his objective was something else. He roars overhead, past Onslaught and Shockwave, the familiar sight of Laserbeak's signature move, the Coward's Charge! The Seeker in charge of hauling everything back to the Despoiler crosses off the final item on his list. <> he radios Shockwave as he strolls back towards the breach in the factory's cargo hold. But there's no immediate reply as usual. <<..Commander?>> Outside in the parking lot, Shockwave is getting the tar beaten out of him. A huge (even larger than Torque's hands!) chunk of metal slams down on his head, and the cyclops's head snaps to the side, battered. "Ngh..." Another swing knocks his head back upwards, and Shockwave has to reach behind him, grabbing the lamppost to help him get back up. "Ugh!" By the time he makes it to his feet, the third swing has struck him in the side, knocking Shockwave clear off balance. Stumbling, the Cybertron Commander only barely remains on his feet. Glaring back at the Autobot second in command, Shockwave's optic flashes brightly, "As usual you fail to see the blindingly obvious. We care nothing for the fleshlings. Only what we can *take* from them." Raising his hand to his 'ear', Shockwave states, "Warrior, pull the Despoiler and its cargo out. We will depart under our own power." The huge shuttle begins lumbering off as Seekers swarm back to it. Rising back up to his full height, Shockwave lowers his hand, clenching it into a fist. "And as for you, Magnus..." Shockwave lashes out with his gun arm, first trying to knock the wreckage from Magnus's hands. Then he moves in for a series of hammer punches, finishing with an elbow strike from his gun arm to Magnus's nose. Combat: Laserbeak begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Shockwave says, "Warrior, pull the Despoiler and its cargo out. We will depart under our own power." Combat: Shockwave sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Shockwave strikes Ultra Magnus with his Savage Beating attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus uses up some of his Arm Mounted Energy Shield shield booster! Combat: Drained 14 energon. Combat: Missile Trailer strikes Ultra Magnus with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus uses up some of his Arm Mounted Energy Shield shield booster! Combat: Missile Trailer strikes Torque with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Still foggy as all get out, Backfire manages to shrink back.. allowing Sandstorm's blade to plunge into his neck connections. Or what little was left, to be a bit more precise. Severing the three strings holding the Seeker's chromedome in place.. Backfire stumbles to his feet and backward. "Do you think me helpless, Wrecker?" a voice intones from his chest cavity. Shrouded in a noxious green glow.. the middle of his chest begins to shake furiously, as if gaining some sort of momentum. Then all of a sudden.. *plink* A tiny seeker head pops out of Backfire's neck. Much, much smaller in size; it squeeks almost hilariously back at Sandstorm. "Second head: Deployed!" Before Sandstorm can muster a retort, the tiny Backfire head actually spits up some green noxious energon up at him. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Sandstorm with his BEHOLD.. Backfire's dreaded SECOND HEAD!! attack! Combat: Backfire's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Sandstorm. Combat: Sandstorm has been temporarily incapacitated. ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) Skids runs around the building and starts circling back up to the battlefield, he hopes out of direct line of fire, covering his damaged armor with one arm. Minivan fenders these days are designed to crumple for safety. Combat: Skids takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Ultra Magnus snaps his shield arm up, the punch pushing him back a few yards but ultimately being absorbed by the energy shield. "No matter what you take, you'll never win Shockwave! Because you can't compute the power of compassion!" Magnus puts his shield over his head to defend from Onslaught's bombardment, Cap style. And then he transforms, horns blaring, revving towards Shockwave, and beyond him, towards the Decepticon ship! Ultra Magnus transforms into an inspiring ARMORED CAR CARRIER! Combat: Armored Car Carrier sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Armored Car Carrier strikes Shockwave with his You've Got the Touch! attack! Combat: Armored Car Carrier (Ultra Magnus) used "Ultra Ram": A Level 8 VELOCITY attack. Combat: You took 10 damage. Combat: Armored Car Carrier 's attack has damaged your Agility! "If I thought you were helpless, I wouldn't be stabbing you more, shiftless," Sandstorm retorts as he yanks the thermal knife out again. Shakes it off a bit, the regrips it. "Now hold still, this will only hurt until you're off-line for ... huh?" And the mini-Backfire spits at him, splattering on his chest... which while the cannon blast didn't really do a lot of heavy damage, it did make enough minute cracks for that hideous green glop to seap in through. "Gaaah! Nasty dude!" Sandstorm staggers backwards half drops to the ground, one hand clutching at his own irradiated chest. ".. worse than the slag on Noxzous VII..." Bell UH-1V Iroquois has to admire Sandstorm stabbing Backfire. Now /that/ is a how a bot maims people. Guns are a necessary evil, a tool of cowardice and expedience, but knives are a proper, sporting weapon. Laserbeak running disappoints Blades. He was going to have fun closing distance and then slowly tearing Laserbeak's wings out of their sockets and then yanking out his magnetic tape and using it to truss his legs! The Huey cants around, looking back to his previous opponent, Onslaught, and says, "You had better run while you still can, because I'll slash your tyres, and then where will you be? Stuck. In a rut." Blades transforms and more or less tries to fall on the missile truck, pulling one rotor blade off his back as he falls and trying to sink it into one of those tempting tyres as he lands. Bell UH-1V Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. Combat: Blades strikes Missile Trailer with his Rotor Blade attack! -4 Torque sets her mouth into a thin frown when Onslaught takes the punch like a champ, though she wouldn't expect anything less from the Combaticon leader. "Tch, well you better make time, cause I'm not backin' down." Yeah yeah, her hands may be a bit bigger, but that bulk comes in handy, helping to shield her face some when gauntleted fists rise up in traditional fisticuffs fashion. She readies another punch, but Onslaught shifts, having her pause in realisation when she spots those missles lining up. Slag. She makes a break for it, but doesn't get far when the missles decend, sending her sprawling and covered in heavy scorching and split plating when the dust finally settles. "That.. that hurt.." She mumbles face first into the ground, fingers scraping at the dirt to try and shakily push herself back up. It's not very effective to punch a trailer, so why not slam into it? And that's exactly what she does after shifting to her altmode with a minor hiss of pain, revving up her engine and chugging forward to him, aiming to meet bumpers in a headon collision. Torque folds in on herself while shifting to her altmode. Combat: Tow Truck sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Tow Truck strikes Missile Trailer with her Bumper to Bumper! (Ram) attack! ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) Some of Onslaught's tires are slashed by Blades but fortunately, missile trailer trucks have more than 4 wheels, "Poor fool. You've been outsmarted once again. We already got what we came for. You failed. Just like you failed in New York City. How many lives lost because of your failures Blades? How many?". Onslaught chuckles as he turns to get back to the road, rolling as fast as his damaged tires allow him to do. He's hit by the tow truck and is nearly knocked to his side by the impact but thanks to his mass, this disaster is avoided and the combaticon commander fight his way out of the perimeter. <> Combat: Missile Trailer begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Shockwave You've been awarded the combaticon medal of great RP. Shockwave rains blows down on Ultra Magnus, hammering the arm mounted forcefield with everything he's got. With each strike, the shield flares up but Magnus survives. Finally, the Decepticon backs up to let Onslaught's photon missile hit home. Still, though, the shield holds! Then Magnus transforms. "Ah." says Shockwave as he stares down the head lights. The car carrier races towards him, and Shockwave dives to the side, getting clipped by the Autobot and sent straight for the lamppost again. Grabbing onto it for support (the lamppost is quickly bent out of shape), Shockwave tracks the car carrier. "Compassion is easier to calculate than you may think, Magnus. Compassion is the Autobot flaw that allowed a successful Decepticon operation." Firing his boot thrusters (and being grateful they still work), Shockwave rises up into the sky after the departing Despoiler. "Decepticons, withdraw back to Trypticon for repairs and re-arming!" Shifting into his gun mode, Shockwave speeds off towards the north, passing over the breach in the factory as he does so. Shockwave's legs combine as his back unfolds. A wide, silver barrel appears out of subspace and connects to his arms, completing his transformation into ray gun mode. Combat: Laser Gun sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Laser Gun begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Fusillade descends from the skies above. Fusillade has arrived. "Second Head Deployment Surprise Attack: Success!" Backfire squeeks out in a high pitched voice, stalking up to the Wrecker. While he was temporarily incapacitated, it would be mere child's play to send him to the scrap pile. One full powered fusion cannon blast from his hastily and crappily constructed rip-off of Galvatron's, or even a salvo of his AGM-88s would finish Sandstorm off. No, Wrecker knock outs come and go.. but moments of opportunity like this? Once in a lifetime. **MOMENTS LATER** "Alright Sandstorm, pucker up for the camera!!" Backfire cackles, depressing the button on his PDA and snapping a shot. A shot of what, exactly? Backfire took the time to graffiti some crude piston images on Sandstorm's face, slip him into some Arcee cosplay, and snap a picture of the Wrecker puckering up to the Seeker's rear end. Now that's just wrong. "Ahahahaha, victory is mine!" Backfire squeeks, turning around. "Hey guys, check this.. out." he gulps, realizing everyone is retreating. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Backfire strikes Sandstorm with his Smile for the camera! (Grab) attack! ___ ___ _____ ___ _ _ | _ ) / _ \ |_ _| / __| | | | | | _ \ | (_) | | | \__ \ |_| |_| |___/ \___/ |_| |___/ (_) (_) BACKFIRE detaches his head and tosses it at you. As you cradle the decapitated Seeker's cranium, it laughs maniacally shouting: "YOUR RP HAS FURTHERED MY GOAL OF BEING A GLORY TO THE EMPIRE!!!" and burps up a +nom. Quick, toss it back before his idiotic ways rub off on you! Skids is still holding his damaged midsection, but not staggering, maybe a little off-balance, as he stumbles onto the hole in the wall that Backfire crashed into, and sees him counting coup, if that's what you want to call it. He waves a weapon-hand in your direction and snorts, "Don't even want to know. Shockwave and Onslaught both ran, you short-circuit, so shoo." To puncutate his point, he fires a low-powered blast in Backfire's general direction, more for appearance's sake than for any other reason. Combat: Skids misses Backfire with his Laser attack! Tow Truck reels somewhat from the impact, but is luckily able to shake it off before watching Onslaught simply shrug it off and retreat, her engine giving a rev of annoyance before settling and releasing a hiss of hydrolic pressure. "I hate that guy.." She snorts, turning around and rolling upto Blades, shifting back to her normal mode. "How're you feeling, Blades? Anything hurting in particular?" The medic already has her medkit out, but honestly has to stop and stare when she sees Backfire doing a few humiliating things to poor Sandstorm. "Erf.. Backfire, get out of here already, would you! Before the others go and blast you up." She tries to get his attention, if only a little, waving an arm in his direction. She'd go over and clock him sure, but she's a bit busy with a patient right now. Torque shifts several plates before standing upright in robot mode. With the vile green energon causing his interal systems to fluxate, Sandstorm is all but hapless to resist while Backfire does his cruel photo-op while the Wrecker is still partially out of it. Then gets Seeker aft shoved in his face. That's arguably more humiliating that the cross-plating, considering Sandstorm has lost his fair share of drinking bets and... well... Though as Backfire turns to brag, only to see his allies leaving already, Sandstorm's optics flicker back up and he stands. Though still somewhat sluggishly. One hand goes to rest on Backfire's shoulder as Sandstorm leans over the other and in as horrible of an femme impersonation as he can manage. "I think you should follow them... but first, gimme some of that sugar." And goes to grab Backfire's back end. To stick a magnetic mini-mine on his aft before backing up hastily. Will the idiot notice before it goes off? Combat: Sandstorm has created a grenade: "Get You In The End"! Combat: Sandstorm strikes Backfire with Get You In The End's Small Explosion #11111 attack! Combat: Sandstorm's Get You In The End is destroyed! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Backfire's Agility. (Crippled) Blades growls, "I know that /no one/ would have died, if not you for /trash/." Mindgames work better on more reflective Autobots. Blades rarely stops long enough to have second thoughts, let alone reflect on his actions. He squints at Torque. Is she totally going to tweak his pain sensors to get even with him for his previous crack? because she can bring it on! Blades grunts, "I'm fine." He's not fine. There's a dude missile stuck in one of his tubes, his ankles are broken, and his roll and yaw servos are busted. ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) With most of the Decepticons having fled along with the Despoiler, the repair and clean-up can continue. Investigations into what was taken will reveal that very specific components were targeted: power relay converters, energon modulators, and flow-regulators. It's all consistent with what the Decepticons would need to build a power station on Earth, possibly for a new base of operations. Easily sidestepping the salvo from Skids, Backfire smirks at the vanbot. He's about to spit out some nasty insult, but then Torque waves to him. He can't quite hear what she's saying, due to the distance.. and smaller audio receptors because of his replacement head; but he can only imagine it's filled with pleasantries and well-wishings. "Do not worry Torqueness, my sweet.. SOON I will liberate you from the cruel hands of the Autobots. But until then, a firey passion will burn in my.." he looks around, eyeing Sandstorm. "BUTT??" Just as he cries out, his aft explodes and sends him flying through the air. Tumbling around, his anti-gravs finally kick in and stabilize his hovering bulk. "Tit for tat, eh? I still think I won the day, Wrecker!" he laughs, tossing a glossy copy of the picture from earlier to the ground. Flying off, Backfire cannot help that some parts and energon drip systematically from his rear end. :( Combat: Backfire begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Laser Gun and Space Going B-1R Lancer Skids steadies himself against the wall as he takes another look at Sandstorm and tries to figure out what Backfire was doing with his armor. It was meant as "Arcee cosplay," but since Arcee doesn't wear anything more than any other Transformer, the overall effect is too abstract for him. He remarks, "I'm not going to explode this astrocycle, but I'd better get back to Autobot City. Until I replace my targeting chip, I'm more likely to shoot you than the Decepticons." Sandstorm grabs the tacky 'cinnabun' cardboard helmet Backfire shoved over his own, despite the box around his head some how, and tosses it aside. "Just consider it proof how messed up some Decepticons are." He snags the picture out of the air... but just stuffs it away. It might actually be useful. Somehow. "... Pff, didn't even get my good side. What a lame photobomber." He waves to the other Autobots. "Go ahead and fix the other folks up Torque, only thing I really hurt is a bit of my pride." That crude was mostly cycling out of his system by now. Mostly. Torque hears at least some of what Backfire is saying, blinking blankly with twitching antennas at his mention of 'my sweet'. Thankfully she doesn't have to be embarrassed long since his rear end appears to spontaneously combust, sending him up and off in the direction of the retreating Cons. Torque just sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose and turning back to Blades. "Yeah well, you don't look fine. Hold still and I'll have you fixed in no time, okay?" She offers the chopper a light smile before getting to work. While patching him up she nods aside to Sandstorm, smirking a little at his getup. "Right. Move in over here if you can, everyone, and I'll get you set up with some repairs." Combat: Torque runs a diagnostic check on Blades Combat: Torque prepares Blades for surgery, his COMBAT flag has been waived. Combat: Torque expertly repairs Blades's injuries. Combat: Torque is able to repair some of Blades's internal systems damage. Sandstorm shrugs and saunters over, pulling off the rest of the lame pink 'armor'. "Well as long as you're offering nicely, Torque." Skids brings up, as Blades is under the scalpel, "Oh, Blades." Combat: Torque runs a diagnostic check on Sandstorm Combat: Torque prepares Sandstorm for surgery, his COMBAT flag has been waived. Combat: Torque expertly repairs Sandstorm's injuries. Combat: Torque is able to repair some of Sandstorm's internal systems damage. Skids mentions, "Oh, and Torque. Before I forget: sorry." Blades does, at least, hold still while Torque is working on him. He looks over at Skids, wondering what the nerd wants with him, and asks, "Yeah? Whatcha need?" Fusillade vanishes out of reality. Fusillade has left. Skids apologizes, "I gave you some bad information the other day. She never did win the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was in Medicine, for figuring out how to make humans sparkle in the sunlight." *** TRAVEL SPAM *** Trypticon Medical Bay Several operating tables are set in a row here, and long benches line the walls. On these benches are assorted tools and equipment used in repairing damaged Decepticons. The benches near the door are for patients waiting their turn for treatment. Scattered throughout the room are various repair droids, awaiting the arrival of more wounded to repair. The room gives you the perception of being immaculately clean, with not a single tool out of place. Your olfactory sensors pick up the faint odor of the cleansing solutions used to keep the room clean and sanitary. Contents: Harrow's Office Sign Brunt Obvious exits: East leads to Trypticon Laboratory. West leads to Trypticon Main Hallway. Outbound enters from the Main Hallway to the west. Outbound has arrived. Outbound steps into the medical bay deep inside of the corridors of Trypticon, his indigo gaze remaining fixed upon the computer screen that appears to be mounted upon his forearm. "Now, switch to grid Nu Delta Sixty-six Pi," the infantrymech continues, his gaze not lifting until the next set of figures dance across the screen. "There..." he nearly whispers to himself, optics flashing before his gaze lifts to track down the local medic. Misfire enters from the Main Hallway to the west. Misfire has arrived. Outbound steps into the medical bay deep inside of the corridors of Trypticon, his indigo gaze remaining fixed upon the computer screen that appears to be mounted upon his forearm. "Now, switch to grid Nu Delta Sixty-six Pi," the infantrymech continues, his gaze not lifting until the next set of figures dance across the screen. "There..." he nearly whispers to himself, optics flashing before his gaze lifts to track down the local medic.(repose) As is the case after any operation, Trypticon's medical bay is full of activity, with Decepticon doctors rushing around from one patient to the next. There's Cons with wounds ranging from a sprained knee hydraulic to life threatening Wreckering. Shockwave is one of those badly injured, though he still seems functional. "...have the power regulators moved to cargo hold C, and the flow adapters moved to the Absolution for reconstruction," he's ordering a lackey. "The Despoiler will be departing in eleven hundred astroseconds. Ensure the parts are on it when it does." Combat: Your COMBAT flag has been cleared. Grumbling and upset, the hapless target master Misfire comes stumbling into the Med Bay. His chassis is soaking wet, along with an unusual stench. Behind Misfire comes in Aimless, laughing his little organic head off. Peering around the Medical Bay, Misfire spies Outbound and begins charging after him. "IT WAS YOU!" After a few steps, he spies Shockwave, freezing in his tracks he salutes his superior. Aimless, sensing someone large and in charge, begins backing out. Backfire enters from the Main Hallway to the west. Backfire has arrived. Blades stares at Skids and says, "I... what?" He doesn't even remember what Skids is on about, though his player does and is amused. Skids handwaves. "Not important. Never mind." Torque looks up from her work on Blades when Skids approaches and apologizes, garnering a raise of her brow. "Sorry? Sorry for what, Skids? Thought you were great out there. If it wasn't for you I don't think I would've gotten to level Shockwave like that." She beams, quick but efficient with her repairs so Blades is soon well enough to maintain proper flight back to Metroplex for some full on repair. Sandstorm is next to recieve her healing touch! "Uh. Maybe you should tell First Aid? He's the one who cares about medical... stuff," Blades suggests. Once he is well, he goes off to see if any of the humans need a medevac. Forget more repairs. More repairs are for wussies. Skids muses, "You know, someone should probably let those kids out." * * * Shockwave's voice is unmistakable, and Outbound wastes no time approaching the Commander. Lowering his arm, the data-computer collapses upon itself and slides out of view as if it had never existed. "Commander, congratulations on the success of your mission," the mobile infantrymech offers, his tone betraying a lazy hint of a certain lack of interest in spite of his words. "I am preparing to leave tomorrow for a recon mission to the Sahara. I require repairs on myself, as well as shuttle Triumph to make haste on the rather short time ta-" The Decepticon is cut off by the angry Misfire. Squinting after a glance back at the duo, Outbound shrugs and shakes his head before returning his gaze to Shockwave. "As I was saying... Repairs." Backfire barges into the medical bay, both hands holding onto his rear end. "I need a medic!" he shouts, then looks behind him at the trail he's left into the room. "Or a metal diaper." Peering back at Outbound, Misfire raises his fist at his fellow Decepticon. "Hmmmmm....yes...I see." Lowering his fist, he spins and peers at the new comer, "Uhhh...Backfire...your..uh..." Misfire fiddles his hands together, looking around nervously. "Leaking..." The lackey salutes and sprints from the medbay to ensure the parts get to the Absolution. Stealing the parts from the humans is only phase 1. There's dozens of modifications required to adapt it to full Cybertronian technology before it can be used. Trypticon's power systems are as finicky as the mech himself. As Outbound approaches, Shockwave leans slightly to his right so Brunt can get at the wound there. Damn Skids to hell. "Your reconnaissance of the Ferrigno Ice Stream shows potential. If the Sahara is proven unacceptable then it will suffice. Trypticon is nearly invulnerable to the cold." Not that you'd believe it from his whining. "Deadline," Shockwave calls out to another medic, "See to Outbound's injuries. Make them a priority." Deadline shrugs, leaving the patient he was working on to go help Outbound to the slab next to Shockwave. BFF's arrival doesn't immediately get a response. "That Wrecker blew my aft up!" Backfire replies, looking irate and displeased. "Literally." Combat: Laser Gun clumsily repairs Outbound's injuries. Shockwave's handle separates into legs as his barrel splits into arms. Straightening out, he completes his transformation into robot mode. Combat: Error - Outbound has been repaired too recently by another player. Brunt says, "There is no crying in the medical ward." Combat: Brunt expertly repairs Shockwave's injuries. Outbound doesn't so much acknowledge Shockwave's response as he does allow Deadline to help him to the medical slab beside Shockwave. Laying back, he allows himself to be worked on, though Backfire's whining cannot help but elicit a comment. "I would avoid sitting for a while if I was you... I hope that he bought you dinner first, for the record." Misfire and Aimless are ignored entirely for the moment, as if Outbound had no idea of what he'd actually just done to the two when he'd passed them in the hall... Casting a sideglance to Shockwave, repairing people in gunform no less, the Seeker immediately slaps his hand to his helm in a salute. "Officer on deck!" he calls out, expecting the riff-raff to do the same. The hands evacuated from his rear end allows some more machinery and energon to slop to the floor in a heaped mess. *plop* Laughing out loud at Outbound's joke at Backfire's expense. Misfire speaks, "'Mech...you may be a jerk, but you have a pretty good sense of humor..." He snickers. "So, what is in the Desert?" He asks casually. He looks long ways at Backfire. "Primus Backfire..." With Shockwave's gut no longer glowing dangerous pink energy, Brunt attaches an cable carrying to the Cybertron Commander's backpack. The generator hums as it feeds Shockwave power. As Backfire shouts out that he's there, nobody bother saluting. They already knew Shockwave was here. Sloooowly, Shockwave turns towards Backfire. "You survived, then." A medic named Knock Off meanwhile tugs on Backfire's arm, trying to drag him to a medical bay so he can get all the sand out of Backfire's joints. Combat: Error - Backfire has been in combat too recently to be repaired. Wait until his COMBAT flag disappears. Combat: Shockwave prepares Backfire for surgery, his COMBAT flag has been waived. Combat: Shockwave expertly repairs Backfire's injuries. Combat: Shockwave is able to repair some of Backfire's internal systems damage. Brunt says, "Shaken or stirred?" Combat: Brunt refuels Shockwave's energon reserves. "Being polite serves little purpose in war time..." Or ever, as far as Outbound is truly concerned. "Nothing is in the Sahara desert, or so it is hoped. The Commander has ordered us to find a suitable place for Trypticon to reside, and other than the deep cold of the Southern continent the sparse deserts of the Center mass seems to be the most promising location." Backfire is drug around by the gumbie medics, a nice flat piece of metal is welded to his hind quarters to keep it from spilling all over the place. "A suitable place for Trypticon..." Misfire rubs his jaw as he pivots and proceeds to walk out. While walking out Misfire grabs Aimless by the scruff of his neck. "Come Aimless...I have just the thing that will get us back in Commands Good Graces." Aimless just sighs as the pair exit the medical bay. Misfire leaves to the Main Hallway to the west. Misfire has left. Shockwave returns to his coordination of the new parts the Decepticons have acquired. Even when he's being operated on by Brunt, Shockwave keeps working. Having someone rummage through your innards with a scalpel is no excuse to get behind on your paperwork. Outbound sits up from the med-slab, his repairs having been minor compared to the damages of many others within the medical bay. When Deadline attempts to continue working on him past the point where his own internal damage control systems are capable of finishing the job the infantrymech actually shoves the intrusive hand away from him. "Your services are no longer required," he states flatly, as his forearm computer unfolds back into view and he slides from the exam slab. "Commander, I have heard nothing of this... 'Galvatron' since my awakening," the mech notes, almost as if he did not quite expect a straight forward answer but was rather stating a fact outright. Awakening? Shockwave makes a note to look up this Outbound individual. Either he was sent away on a mission some time ago or he was recently brought back online. Shockwave considers his words carefully. Speaking ill of Galvatron is dangerous, despite what he might really think of him. "After being defeated by Optimus Prime in the earth year 2005 at Autobot City, Starscream usurped Megatron and left him drifting through space. During the first Unicron attack, Megatron was upgraded and altered into Galvatron. He is now the current leader of the Decepticons." There may be subtle emphasis on the word 'current'. Now affixed with his metal diaper, Backfire promptly gives Shockwave a proper salute and exits the room. Though he has some blackmail in order for the Wrecker, he didn't escape this day entirely without wounds.. so now it's time for rest. And to plan his revenge! "So... Galvatron IS Megatron reborn. That makes more sense than the version I initially received." The version in which Megatron died, and then Galvatron popped up out of nowhere and blasted Starscream to bits before taking over as leader of the Decepticon Empire. "Unicron..." Outbound seems to be surprisingly unfamiliar with the name, his forearm computer chirping as another stream of data dances across its surface. "I see. The most deadly of foes," he muses aloud before nodding none in particular. Like Backfire, Outbound moves to take his leave as well, but without the salute or even a true indication that the conversation had ended. "Copy that," he does say as the auto-doors that had begun to close after Backfire's exit hesitate and then reopen to grant Outbound his leave. Galvatron's origins are at least somewhat well known. He gave a good hint to Starscream at his coronation. As Outbound takes his leave, Shockwave returns to his work.